Simultaneous coating and drying accelerates production of electrodes

Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) person developed and successfully tested an innovative conception for simultaneous coating and drying of two-layered electrodes. Drying times tin beryllium reduced to little than 20 seconds, which corresponds to fractional down to 1 3rd of the accustomed accumulation time, without capableness losses of the battery. With the assistance of the concept, lithium-ion batteries tin beryllium produced much rapidly and astatine little cost. The results are reported successful Energy Technology.

Electric vehicles volition beryllium of cardinal value to aboriginal mobility. This volition effect successful a perpetually increasing request for almighty and inexpensive batteries. In lithium-ion batteries, electrode layers are of decisive importance, arsenic these progressive materials store the energy. However, coating and consequent drying of electrodes origin astir of the artillery accumulation costs. A large outgo simplification imaginable lies successful process engineering. Researchers of the Thin Film Technology (TFT) Group headed by Professor Wilhelm Schabel and Dr. Philip Scharfer person been conducting probe successful this country for years now. They already succeeded successful considerably expanding coating velocity and developed an innovative drying process. Now, the radical has combined coating and drying successful a simultaneous concept. The results are reported successful Energy Technology, the main writer being Jana Kumberg, doctoral researcher astatine KIT. TFT develops technologies for electrode accumulation wrong CELEST—Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Ulm & Karlsruhe, 1 of the biggest artillery probe platforms worldwide.

Cheaper production

"Our enactment shows that successful principle, we negociate each process steps needed to nutrient batteries much rapidly and, hence, astatine little outgo successful aboriginal without affecting quality," Schabel explains. At accustomed electrode drying times of up to 1 infinitesimal and accumulation speeds of 1 100 meters per infinitesimal and more, agelong drying lines are needed. In lawsuit of electrodes with a precocious coating weight, this is hardly feasible and precise expensive. The caller conception is based connected the thought of utilizing antithetic progressive materials for the layers and applying them simultaneously. One furniture is liable for adhesion, different for circumstantial capacity. This layer operation enables manufacture astatine a precise precocious drying rate, drying times are shortened to 1 third.

Specific organisation of properties successful the electrode layers

In spite of the reduced drying time, nary capableness losses occur. The scope of the artillery remains the same, besides successful lawsuit of alleged 3C cycles i.e. accelerated charging times of 20 minutes. Within their study, the scientists applied antithetic progressive materials implicit the thickness of the anode, arsenic a effect of which antithetic properties were distributed specifically successful the electrode layers. In this way, electrodes tin beryllium customized and person amended mechanical and electrochemical properties. "We person achieved archetypal promising results," Schabel says. "Now, we volition enactment connected concern implementation." At the moment, the radical is moving connected ways to transportation the simultaneous conception to the concern scale. For this purpose, it tests purely convective drying with high-performance nozzles and laser drying modules.

Studies are funded with much than EUR 5 cardinal by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) wrong antithetic probe clump projects. "Our probe demonstrates that it whitethorn beryllium imaginable successful rule to summation artillery accumulation velocity by 2 100 to 3 100 percent," Schabel says. Now, the results are being transferred to different materials and utilized to optimize electrodes of sodium-ion batteries wrong the POLiS—Post Lithium Storage Cluster of Excellence.

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More information: Jana Kumberg et al, Reduced Drying Time of Anodes for Lithium‐Ion Batteries done Simultaneous Multilayer Coating, Energy Technology (2021). DOI: 10.1002/ente.202100367